Horizon Europe ENICON

📣 CALL FOR PAPERS: #CircularHydrometallurgy A Special Issue for 'Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy' is dedicated to Circular Hydrometallurgy, an area of hydrometallurgy that focuses on the design of energy-efficient flowsheets or unit processes aimed at minimizing reagent consumption and producing virtually no waste. Submission deadline: 1st February 2025 https://lnkd.in/eCgBJ--8 #Hydrometallurgy #MaterialsScience

📣 Horizon Europe ENICON was presented at the 3rd edition of the annual workshop of the Cluster Hub “Production of raw materials for batteries from European resources”, held in Brussels, during the #EuropeanRawMaterialsWeek 2024 Nivea Magalhaes (from University of Exeter) presented the project activities related to the “Sustainable Sourcing Practices for Battery Materials from Primary Sources”, a session moderated by Susana XARÁ from HaDEA (European Commission). Other EU funded projects, with the involvement of SIM2 KU Leuven, supporting the workshop are CICERO Project, Horizon Europe EXCEED, Horizon Europe AVANTIS, Horizon Europe LITHOS

An exclusive insight into Umicore’s #batteryrecycling plant! Part V of “The making of ‘Europe’s #lithium paradox’”. Following overwhelming filming experiences in #Serbia, Portugal and Finland, our road trip in continental Europe brought us back to Belgium. For the first time ever – yes indeed! – Umicore allowed a camera crew to actually film its unique battery smelter (“BAS”) in Hoboken, Antwerp. Not only that, but we also have the actual tapping of the Ni-Co-Cu alloy on camera! HIGH TEMP PROCESS Our guide was Charles Stuyck (Business Development Umicore Battery Recycling Unit), who explained how Umicore’s battery recycling approach is based on a unique and patented process, combining pyrometallurgical smelting of whole battery cells with additional downstream hydro-refining.   Unlike the mechanical/hydro flowsheets developed by a suite of startups, Umicore’s process does not involve the shredding of the batteries nor the production of a (hazardous) #blackmass intermediate. Stuyck asserts that Umicore’s process has the advantage of being #safebydesign as there is no direct contact between battery chemicals and workers. Furthermore, it is a robust process that is capable to treat several (Ni-Co-containing) battery chemistries. The high temperatures, which are obtained autogenously, destroy any remaining #PFAS molecules. Also in terms of total carbon emissions (Scope 1-3), Umicore is convinced that its process is best in class (cf. work of Bart Verrecht).   Li RECOVERY The battery smelter allows to separate a Ni-Co-Cu alloy from a Li-bearing flue dust that is fumed out of the slag phase. The Li-bearing flue dust is treated in a hydro process, providing a technical-grade Li2CO3 product that can be sold to refiners. During our filming campaign we were given the chance to touch the made-in-Belgium “white gold” (see big bag in photo below).   LACK OF FEED From a technological point of view Umicore is ready to provide a bespoke battery recycling solution for Europe. However, there are caveats. The first one is that there is a desperate lack of feed. Currently, most input in Umicore’s industrial pilot plant is not End-of-Life battery waste but battery scrap and rejects. Umicore only expects a serious volume of EoL material from 2035 onwards. Hence, it does not make sense to build a massive battery recycling plant today (cf. Eramet's decision!). Furthermore, it beggars belief that a significant fraction of today’s battery waste and black mass is not even retained in Europe for processing, but exported to Asia. We are losing our CRMs, rather than recycling them! The EU has work to do to stop this madness. 🎬 "Europe's lithium paradox" explores how Europe could potentially mine, refine, and #recycle Li, supplemented by strategies for lowering primary demand. Premiere: March 2025. Crowdfund: https://lnkd.in/gh_Prrnv Eurometaux (European Metals Association) PROMETIA BATTERY 2030+ Horizon Europe LITHOS SOLVOMET R&I Centre KU Leuven 🙏 Tatiana Cervak

Book the date! IPMS2025 in Aalto University campus 27-28 October 2025🔥🔥🔥 https://ipms2025.aalto.fi/ Daniel Lindberg

Battery Recycling research continues with strong academic-industrial collaboration in Finland 🔋💚

Another HPAL project has been announced in #Indonesia by PT Vale and GEM. This new development highlights the continued importance of three areas for the #nickel and #battery markets: 1. Downstreaming policy 🪫 – as part of the strategic collaboration, both companies will look into #pCAM and #anode capacity, key to the downstreaming strategy that was started by Jokowi and looks to be continued under Prabowo, who attended the signing event. 2. Ownership structures 🤝 – GEM, a Chinese company, has a 25% share in the project, according to Bloomberg. This aligns with the existing FEOC guidelines (although unclear how this may change under Trump) and is consistent with the Indonesian government’s comments in relation to ownership structures. PT Vale has a 30% share, with the remaining partner (45%) yet to be announced. 3. ESG 🌏 – the project is intended to be a net zero site. This focus on sustainability remains important for Indonesia’s continued role as a major player in the global energy transition. PT Vale’s CEO, Febriany Eddy, highlighted the “commitment to establish new global standards for environmental responsibility”. Please reach out if you would like to discuss the latest from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence on #nickel, #cobalt and the wider #battery supply chain https://lnkd.in/gf85QehK

Interesting visit at the Glencore Nikkelverk AS plant in Norway, as part of the Horizon Europe ENICON project consortium meeting! We learned a lot about Nickel and Cobalt extraction and refining process ✨️ with Koen Binnemans Brecht Dewulf Seyedeh Maryam Sadeghi SOLVOMET R&I Centre SIM2 KU Leuven with special thanks to Dr. Oluf Bøckman and his team!

Demand-side management and constructive environmentalism. Part IV of “The Making of “Europe’s Lithium Paradox”". On Friday 8 November, our film crew went to Brussels to speak to Transport & Environment (T&E)'s charismatic Julia Poliscanova (she/her), Senior Director Electric Vehicles & Batteries. The reason? To obtain a better insight in how far #demandsidemanagement can help in limiting the need for new mines for lithium, #nickel, #cobalt, #rareearths etc. As ever, the super-eloquent Poliscanova went straight to the point in elaborating how demand-side solutions should go hand in hand with supply-side offerings in the transition to #climateneutrality. In the #CriticalRawMaterialsAct the former is less pronounced. Poliscanova: “The current #extractive model also has to shift to a #circular one with more #recycling and product #efficiency. Transport & Environment analysis shows that driving #small #affordable #EVs can reduce minerals demand by a quarter (and make our cities nicer)! 🙏 Constructive environmentalism A 2nd reason for our meeting with Poliscanova was to speak about the different forms of #environmentalism. T&E is a prime example of how I believe environmentalism should operate: evidence-based, rational, constructive... always pushing the mining, metals and EV industry to perform better in terms of ESG. A huge difference with - what I call - "ideological, activist-environmentalism”, which we have come across so often during filming our documentaries (see my keynote during the IMA-Europe (Industrial Minerals Association - Europe) event in Brussels this week). The latest example being the intimidation we received in Portugal when trying to interview the resistance movement to the #Barroso #lithium project (see Part III below). The “cancel culture” tendency to refuse to engage in a dialogue about the need for #energytransition metal mining is plainly ridiculous. Poliscanova: “We should differentiate between mining companies who try to do well and those who simply don’t care”. This part also covered the need for IRMA Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance auditing. 🎬 The Making of Europe’s Lithium Paradox (2025). 👉 Part I: Our Serbian #Jadar lithium adventure: https://lnkd.in/dQsH2uPm [Separate documentary "Not in my country"] 👉 Part II: Can we refine and #recycle lithium in Europe? (Metso): https://lnkd.in/es_QYm5P 👉 Part III: Our Mina do Barroso lithium filming adventure in Portugal (Savannah Resources PLC): https://lnkd.in/e6abxCht 🎬 "Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle” (2024): https://lnkd.in/eE9k9smN (Journeyman Pictures - Stijn van Baarle) SIM2 KU Leuven Horizon Europe LITHOS Horizon Europe EXCEED International Lithium Association (ILiA) BATTERY 2030+ PROMETIA EIT RawMaterials Eurometaux (European Metals Association) william todts Toni Eerola Adele R. Vanessa Lorenz Dr Cameron Perks Andre Majdalani Joe Lowry Roland Chavasse Roland Gauß Koen Binnemans Luc Pez Luc Sels Peter Lievens Steven Brown

NEW: LFP batteries have been gaining momentum in the electric car market, and there's no reason they should escape the EU's battery recycling targets. 🔋 That's the message of the recycling industry and NGOs in a letter to the EU Commission. They say a draft Delegated Act risks omitting mandatory recycling for LFP, creating an uneven playing field between battery chemistries. 👎 That could result in large amounts of landfill waste, undermining the environmental ambition of the Batteries Regulation. This would fail to implement the primary law’s 65% recycling efficiency target and lead to an environmentally sub-optimal treatment of LFP batteries on the EU market. ♻️ They call on the Commission to close this loophole by ensuring that phosphorus and iron are included in the mandatory calculation of recycling efficiency. Read the letter ➡️ https://lnkd.in/evPtGQQf ACCUREC-Recycling GmbH AVERE - The European Association for Electromobility Deutsche Umwelthilfe ECOS EBRA (European Battery Recycling Association) European Environmental Bureau

Can we refine and recycle lithium in Europe? Part II of "the making “Europe’s #lithium paradox”". Following an overwhelming experience in Serbia (report: https://lnkd.in/dQsH2uPm), our road trip in continental Europe took us to Pori, Finland, where we were welcomed by Metso, a world-leading technology provider. Our guide was Janne Karonen, Director Hydromet technologies. ALKALINE LIOH PROCESS First we explored Metso’s game changing leaching and conversion process, from spodumene concentrate to battery-grade LiOH.H2O. In contrast with the incumbent Chinese H2SO4-based process, Metso developed an alkaline process that avoids the production of cumbersome aqueous sodium sulphate waste streams. The latter has been a showstopper for many battery (materials)-related companies trying to operate in Europe. The Metso process is Li-selective making the downstream metal purification much easier, while the mineral residue can be sold as a by-product in the construction industry. Water recycling allows a minimum water footprint. This technology will form the basis for Sibanye-Stillwater’s Keliber lithium project in Finland. This plant (2025) will likely be the first integrated spodumene mine->concentrate->LiOH process in continental Europe. Li-ION BATTERY #RECYCLING In the afternoon our attention focused on Li-ion #batteryrecycling. Karonen showed Metso’s hydrometallurgical process to convert #blackmass into base metals, #nickel, #cobalt, #manganese and lithium products. The conversation also covered the question on how relevant Li (battery) recycling can be(come)? The painful reality is that significant volumes of End-of-Life Li-ion batteries, and derived black mass, will only be available in 15-20 years. Conclusion: as also highlighted in a recent BloombergNEF report, today Li recycling can only play a minor role in the 17-fold Li demand growth that is needed between 2023 and 2050, to drive BNEF’s climate-neutral “Net Zero (CO2 emission) Scenario”. Furthermore, Karonen also corroborated that recycling of #LFP black mass poses a massive (economic) challenge. As LFP lacks Ni and Co, such a process depends on subsidies to function. 🎬 "Europe's lithium paradox" & crowdfunding The documentary will explore how Europe could potentially mine, refine, and #recycle Li, supplemented by strategies for lowering primary demand for Li (e.g. #publictransport & #carsharing). We will highlight key European Li mining (Portugal-Boticas, Serbia-#Jadar), refining and #batteryrecycling (Finland-Pori) projects. The film gives the floor to civil society, environmental organisations, national and EU policy makers and Commissioners, academics and industry affiliates. The avant-premiere is planned for 2025. Note that we are crowdfunding: https://lnkd.in/gh_Prrnv Peter Tom Jones, Pori - 9-10-2024